***Experience The Education***
Welcome to your free, MONTHLY, online connection to Ballet Class!
KAT'S Class Updates for the month of September:
LABOR DAY MONDAY THE AILEY STUDIOS ARE CLOSED! LABOR DAY OBSERVANCE. Please be advised that there are no classes scheduled Monday, September 1st.
Kat guest teaches in Alaska Master Classes till September 7, 2008. Classes will resume on regular schedule Monday September 8th with Kat here at the Ailey Extension. Also on September 8th we begin rehearsals for our next Student Showcase. Sign up online today! (see details below & here) See pictures of our last showcase under Fun Stuff section below.
Your Special Guest teacher for morning classes @ 10:30 Wednesday & Friday this week: Jeanette Hoffman (Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo Alumni). Evening classes @ 6PM & 7:30 PM will again be taught by Theresa Howard, a former dancer with Dance Theatre of Harlem and Armitage Gone! Dance. She teaches at The Ailey School and internationally.
A Word (or more) from Kat
Each September, I recall all the years I've been teaching and all the faces of students that have passed through my classes. This season makes 34 years of teaching. Many of you have seen me grouchy, ticked off, frustrated, and yet also exuberant and so delighted at you and your accomplishments. We have shared weddings, babies, new homes, 911, great losses, death, and tremendous joy of achievements through our dancing. Thanks to you all, each and every one, for being such a huge part of my life and a tremendous inspiration for the future. My tiara is off to each of you!
Yes, yes, Gregory finally persuaded me to get on facebook, like I have time to be online...Ha! If I don't answer or respond to your posts, please try and understand. I can hardly answer all the emails I receive here at my website. As you are reading this I'm in Alaska, teaching of course. I hope you are working on your fall schedules so you can attend more ballet classes and really attain some of your goals. Remember to let me know your birthday and also post your headshots here. My dear friend and brilliant choreographer Robert Weber has finally got his website up and included in his choreography section are clips of him and I (so much younger then) doing his contemporary ballet choreography, which was always a great joy in my career. Check it out here, dancing "Strauss" and "Luna" together in rehearsal and numerous major guest appearances worldwide! We sure hope Robert will join us in the near future and create yet more masterpieces for our adult showcases.
Remember: Nothing is more important to your well-being and ability to perform than good nutrition. Check what goes into your body and make sure its the right stuff! Educate yourself. After all, YOU are the very best teacher for you! Listen, I know it's hard sometimes to interrupt class to ask a question…however you can always email me here. I promise to get back to you A.S.A.P. Enjoy what's left of this magnificent summer! Remember to pull together your Halloween costume. It's always a fun and extra special event next month, to take class in costume. Also it's a very important part of your theatrical training! It happens only once each year, make it so! All my very best wishes tutu each of you - Kat!
Our regular schedule: Check here.
Monday, Wednesday, Friday
* 10:30 Beginners Class
* 12 noon pointe Wednesdays
* 6pm Intermediate level
* 7:30 Beginners class
Saturday
* 4:30- 6:00 pm open all levels
* 6:15 pointe
Thursday & Sunday
* Private lessons only
*All Kat's private lessons are currently scheduled for Sundays all day and Thursdays after 2pm, at the Circular Power Studios
conveniently located at 850 7th ave Suite 305.
*Kat is holding her individual private lesson costs down tutu the 2007 rate of only $120 per hour ($1000. for 10 class card), which includes the studio rental at this location only. Group lessons will be priced differently, of course, with additional time, studio space, and accompaniment fees factored in.
Tuesday
Kat's day off, please don't ask, you know I'm a workaholic and need one day completely off. Thanks.
ONGOING CLASS UPDATES
Kat's regular teaching schedule is here. Bookmark it so you don't forget. Go here to download a printable Ailey Extension Schedule!
*Kat returns September 7th from all her summer travels!
*September 8th we'll start MONDAY NIGHT REHEARSALS for next student repertory workshop with performances November 23rd! We'll hopefully be doing excerpts from Giselle! Sign up now! Possible costume ideas found and submitted to me are here, here, and here. They will be discussed in the first few rehearsals, when we have received price list comparisons. Gentleman and their chosen ladies, get ready for the "Peasant Pas" here, and here. And possibly Giselle Pas de Deux. Also other dance pieces yet undetermined at press time.
*Columbus Day Monday October 12: The Ailey Extension STUDIOS ARE OPEN! All Classes!
*October 31 Friday 7:30 will be our Halloween class. Our judges are gearing up and prizes will be awarded...plan your costumes now and be certain to attend this once a year event!
*November 23rd Adult Student Repertory Workshop Performance SUNDAY 5pm and 7:30pm 5fl. Buy your tickets online here.
*Thanksgiving: Friday & Saturday November 28 & 29 The Ailey Extension STUDIOS ARE OPEN! All Classes!
*Update on our Spring (Late May) 2009 Hawaii Ballet classes…Okay we have our facility secure for class each morn and housing. Still working on a few last details for the package & when it is complete, you can bet I'll let you know so you can save a place & date. Yes, we are bringing Vladamir and his wife!
Classroom Confidential: TMI and Honorable Mentions
September is Birthday month for Kat (never as old as Sharon), Natasha K & Michelle A!... Let me know when your birthday is so we can all celebrate with you, here…Visit here for all the events and special activities commemorating Ailey's 50th Anniversary!. Judith Jamison was on the cover of Dance Teacher Magazine August issue, great smile!...Speaking of magazines, Ben B., Zumba instructor extraordinaire, will be featured in New york Post Page 6 magazine as well as on Fox "Good day NY" and Bravo series "The real Housewives of NY"…and our lil Allie P. was featured as Capezio's "Future Star" in this month's issue of Dance Spirit Magazine (see the pull-out section) two pages of pictures and an interview, also in the same issue look for her in an ad for "Onstage NYC" dance competition (she's in brownish/green costume). And in Radio City's new video ad see Allie twice. Check out that arabesque! This is your month lil one, Congrats from all of us!....next order of business is to come and check out "Harlem (Live)." It's a new video that has been created from the Cutting Room, Broadway Bares XVIII at Roseland, and Nate Kid throughout his hood uptown...FYII, NJ dance schools list a-z…Hey all you, Rockettes, lil Madison C. wants to ask if you know her friend Joey Maher. Mad has been partying with her parents in Disney Orlando this summer…Regina and Marina in Italy recently performed Saltarello from the Italian saltare = to jump, is an antique dance and most likely a popular pastoral tune. See photos in class pictures here…See the sculpture of Kat teaching by world renowned artist Bruno Lucchesi. Also did you see the Aug 2008 issue Dance Magazine? Look here.And the June 2008 issue of Town & Country?…Chrisi C. visiting this month from TX has started a light opera company with her friend Kelly...and just got their nonprofit status! yay! Check it out here…Marco B. is here visiting from Italy for two months, he also has a studio in Siena, which also offers gyrotonic's…Emma S. is doing a wonderful project. She is putting together a small collection of DVDs of important classical ballet performances to send to the Khmer Arts Academy in Cambodia. Many of the dancers there have never seen western ballet, even on TV...Cora blog? Why? Chris, why? Lol!...Laura W. biographic profile on You tube featuring her dog Zeus, music by Fa Ventilato…Tyler Mark M. is the swing for the Broadway revival of Brigadoon. Congrats, also see his Klassified offerings below… Tyler M. and Stacey S. just returned from teaching in Japan where Yuka K. is now teaching for a short time…Hey Hillary R. is back from Japan. Also see class photos... Gus aka Anna B. and Erik N. will be in Endicott, NY on Sept 5 & 6 teaching West Coast Swing/Hustle workshops…Always a blast, the lovely Denise C. brought her friend Megan (excellent Cecchetti training) in from Detroit to join us for classes this summer. Please come back soon!...We have done the Madame Youschevitch adagio for this year!
Quote of the month: "Before I was born my mother was in great agony of spirit and in a tragic situation. She could take no food except iced oysters and champagne. If people ask me when I began to dance, I reply, "In my mother's womb, probably as a result of the oysters and champagne - the food of Aphrodite." -Isadora Duncan
*Andros on Nana Gollner (1920-1980 see ballerina of the month this issue)
Taylor's Tales
A column by our webmaster, Taylor.
Diary of an (Baby) Ballet Student
Five years ago this week I was a different person. I was a high school sophomore moving away to live in an apartment with two other 15 year olds in a city 300 miles from home. All I wanted to do was dance and I gave up everything to go to "ballet boarding school" in Philadelphia. Two years of confinement there and 3 years in NYC later, I am a last-semester graduate student searching for an apartment to afford on my own as a professional dancer and writer. I cannot believe how quickly 5 years have passed and how much has happened (a high school diploma, a college degree, 6 internships, 2 dance companies, and countless friendships). Below are a few (edited & humorous) excerpts of the online journal I kept my first month living away from home in September 2003.
Sept. 10: I'm at school in Philly! I finished unpacking the other day and met my two roommates. One is L. from Texas, the other is Y. from Japan, but she speaks English fine. They are both really nice. Monday, we had orientation stuff for the academics program and then our first ballet class taught by B., which was pretty good. There are a LOT of really good dancers here…
Sept. 12: My roomies & I went to buy a stock of microwavable food today because they had PB&J for the third day in a row for lunch. Ugh. Right now me & L. are watching a ballet video with Nureyev and Margo Fonteyne. It's hysterical! Her feet are literally worse than mine, and that is tough to beat! It's quite amusing...
Sept. 14: Drama. That's all I can say. Drama. Please don't ask.
Sept. 16: I'm exhausted. We had a photo shoot for pics for an ad that's going to go in Dance magazine and in Pointe magazine! How cool is that? It was fun, but painful. Class was really tough today. I felt like I seriously couldn't do anything. Since I had such a bad class I'm going to go take the extra night class now. I know I'll be even more exhausted later, but its worth it. I don't care.
Sept 19: C. taught partnering, which was actually quite fun. Me and this amazing, incredibly tiny, really good girl were partnered with this really amazing, skinny 13 year old kid from Mexico. (ed note: girl is now in ABT, boy is now in San Francisco Ballet). He hasn't partnered much. I'm certainly not the best partner in the world, but it was fun.
Sept. 26: Today in the hall, D. was like, "Oh Taylor, B. told me to mention to you that Pennsylvania Ballet's Balanchine Nutcracker auditions are Sunday and they are looking for short girls for some of the parts." Ooh! I think I'm going do it and see what happens. Depending on what cast I'm in I might only get like 4 days off for Christmas.
Sept. 28: I went over to the studio this morning at 11:30 but didn't audition until 1:15pm. Danced for 1/2 hour and then waited until 5:30. In those 6 hours, we were not allowed to leave the studio. Not the studio building, the actual studio! We had no food, and nothing to do. Nothing. 6 hours. And little 8 year olds running all around. I just got back. I'm a "Hoop," which is a candy cane, or Russian. There are 8 in each cast. I'm happy, mostly because I'm freed from the studio finally!
For the full, unedited "journal" of that month read here at your own risk :) For current blog entries, click here.
Kat's Monthly Mailbag
(a mere sampling)
**Dear Kat. I have read the August newsletter with joy! This paragraph from Taylor is very moving: "Kat has believed in me more than I ever have in myself at times. She has nurtured confidence. She has taught a healthier approach. She has rekindled my absolute love of dance. She has yelled at me. She has cried with me. We have laughed. She has advised beyond the call of duty." You really bring joy to dancing and I totally agree that you always go out of your way to help. Thank you so much for sharing your personality and dance. With love and respect, J.
Dear J, Thanks for your kind words-Kat
**Dear Kat, I was having a rough day, and taking your class made everything better. I hope that every day you wake up in the morning, you realize how awesome you are! Your students are so thankful to have you. What an amazing teacher and person you are. C. #2
Dear C#2 Thank you for choosing my classes-Kat
**Hi Kat, I just wanted to say hi, and thank you for providing such a wonderful class at Alvin Ailey. I worked at a PR agency in Manhattan for the past year, where I was absolutely miserable...Looking forward to your 6pm class was really the only thing that got me thru those never-ending days of work. After 8 or 9 months of your class, I'm now going through major withdrawal. I'm trying get a job and hopefully move to the city, so hopefully I'll be back in class soon! Thanks for everything! Best,K.
Dear K, Good luck and keep me posted, great to hear from you-Kat
**Dear Kat: Thank you very much for the newsletter! It's very informative and provides a wide spectrum of your professional activities, which amazes me in addition to what I've known about you already. I admire your humanism and endless willingness to give and share your knowledge and skills! O.
Dear O, Thank you for your note. My best, Kat.
And Finally...
Re've'rence:
Eleo Pomare, Dancer, Teacher and Rebel RIP
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
Casting Call: Hot Auditions and Gigs Here
*union or non-union stage manager needed: Three Movements, a new play by Martin Zimmerman, is based on the life of the famed ballet choreographer George Balanchine. Rehearsals start mid-September and the show runs from Oct 17 through the 26th. Its an Equity Showcase, low pay! email Mary Willis White at threemovements@gmail.com. or at HEIRESS PRODUCTIONS, INC. WWW.HEIRESSPRODUCTIONS.ORG 917.441.1592
*Cruise Ship auditions/Jean Ann Ryan Prod t: 954-523-6399 ext 26 Singers, Dancers, Acrobats, Ball room, Adagio Teams, Flyers & Speciality for immediate and year round openings. Sep 16 @ 10:00 AM-12:30 Ripley Grier Studios 520 8th Avenue
*Curtain Call Model search
*Playbill On-Line's Casting and Job Listings
*Dance NYC audition listings
*Backstage Casting listingsKat's Klassifieds
This is a section of the newsletter we need to add for your classmates offering/needing services. Please note, these are not reccomendations just announcements:
*Ben Byrd "Teacher of the Month @ Ailey Extention" invites all of Kat's students to Zumba.
*TONY @ CIRCULAR POWER Master Teacher/Trainer: More about Gyrotonics here. Summertime Special @ Circular Power Inc. Intro Gyrotonic session ONLY $65, Please call or e-mail to make appointment, 917 849 8569 info@circularpower.com and mention this newsletter! Please note Kat trains at this location 3 hours min. per week, plus conducts most all her private coaching sessions here.
*Web design and hosting services to all Kat's students at a discounted rate. Anyone who responds to this offer by the end of September can receive basic web design services for a discounted rate at $250. I can also help set them up with a web hosting service. Anyone who wants to design their own website or has their own site already but would like easy affordable web hosting service can receive that for $50 per year through my company. Call Tyler Mark Matkowski StarStudded Productions (248) 345-6129
*Sublet NEEDED starting around Oct 10th- Jan 10th...we need something that is not too expensive but we do need something with easy access to Radio City. robinp111@aol.com
*Thomas Victor is a certified Ear Acupuncturist along with his other excellent massage techniques. Mention this newsletter, and get an additional discount till summer ends!
*SUBLET: Edith the Theatre lady is off to Egypt September 14th until October 9th and her place is available near Lincoln Center. theatrelady2000@earthlink.net
*Voice Training for Dancers: Michèle Assaf/President of Tezoro Productions recently worked with a guy named Darin Adams and says, "If you need voice training, I would definitely suggest you call him" His cell number is (916) 759-1625. 1/2 off Intro lesson
*DancePass- see more dance affordably
*Every Monday Amber P. is teaching 2-3:30PM beginners vinyasa yoga @ Sonic Yoga, 754 Ninth Avenue (@51st Street) ONLY $8/ class WOW!
*Dancers Responding to Aids: When AIDS is stopped we will dance for joy. Until then we will dance for Life! Become a dancer responding with action. Make a difference, a donation of as little as one dollar can make a difference in a dancers life. For more info and to make a secure online donation visit here
*Sophia Robbins is a headshot photographer and still offering summer discounts (%20 percent off), mention this newsletter. 1650 Broadway, suite 407, (917) 513-0585
*Pilates lessons! You'll feel great! Erin Ginn 423-361-2066
*Need your Hair Colored? call Sheila at Mingle salon 10 W 55, don't wait any longer- really!
Ballerina of the Month: Nana Gollner
Nana Gollner Former Ballerina of The Original Ballet Russe. Birth Date: 18 January, 1919. Birth Place: El Paso, Texas, USA. At the age of four Nana had had a severe attack of polio, which left her with a club foot...
*George Balanchine Catalogue
*Glamour shot
*Film "Spring Night" (1935), a rare cinematic ballet featuring Nana with David Lichine
*Ballerina in Vagabond King (1949)
*Teaching @ Ballet Arts
*Life Magazine 3/20/1944
*Photo With her husband Paul PETROFF: He was Danish and was the victim of a mysterious much "discussed", hotel stabbing.
Read all about each month's ballerina here for all archives.
FOR MEN ONLY
*Kevin's Ali Le Corsaire. This month's Pointe Video of the Month.
*Submitted by Eric N. for your viewing pleasure, Herman Cornejo, La Sylphide
*Howie submitted this: Tired of the Olympics yet? This is a funny spin. Watch this gymnastics routine - this guy's from Murray Utah.
Performance Corner: Catch Your Fellow Students and More
*Lar Lubovitch Dance Company September 1-4 DTW 219 West 19th Street
*Tap Dance Open House September 3,7,11 &13
*Janusphere Dance Company Sept 5 & 6 The Riverside Theatre
*The Joyce and the River to River Festival's Evening Stars "BAD BOYS OF DANCE- September 5-7, 7:30 pm, FREE! Battery Park 1 train to South Ferry
*See Erin G. & Laura W. in: New Choreographers on Point Sunday, September 7, 6pm 92nd Street Y-Buttenwieser Hall
*National Dance Institute September 11 5PM Rockefeller Plaza ,49th Street btw 5th and 6th Aves.
* Fall for Dance Festival All Tickets $10 17 - 27, 2008, City Center. Multiple companies from around the world appear in each performance, offering audiences a sampling of the best that dance has to offer – from hip hop to ballet, tango to tap, and so much more.
*Dance Festival of India 2008 September 20 8PM Carnegie Hall
*Metropolitan Opera Opening Night Gala For the season-opening gala starring Renée Fleming on September 22
*Ballet NY September 23-28 Joyce Theater 175 8th Ave. at 19th St.
*Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company September30-October 4 BAM 30 Lafayette Avenue, Brooklyn
*Morphoses/The Wheeldon Company October 1-5 City Center
*Hip Hop Knucklehead Zoo October 3-19 New Victory Theater 229 West 42nd Street, 10th Floor
*If you have performance info you wanna share with your fellow classmates, please send it to kat_wildish@yahoo.com.
Fun Stuff: Take a Break and Enjoy
*CLASS PICTURES : FUN PICTURES MANY HAVE BEEN ASKING ABOUT be sure to scroll down. ALSO 173 NEW pictures Arthur took at our 3rd Student workshop showcase August 24,2008 here (thank you all for signing the AAADT Photography release form)
*Collecting your headshots & websites. Yeah! Help me out. Sometimes someone will ask, "Kat, Do you have a tall blond guy for a part in Mid-summer Night's Dream?" "Oh Oh Kat, you know who I'm talking about, the girl with the brown hair?" Yeah right! Like I remember 1200 students names when I get home! Click here and create a quick, free account to upload your picture and website. That way we can get to know each other's names and I don't have to call you by other names! Thanks to all of you who have already posted.
*Fun from My friend HotDog/Howie: Sit back, relax, put all systems on cruise control and enjoy this beautiful blending of music, animals, and scenery.
*Conan O'Brien - 'Pilobolus'
*Shop till you drop Sports bras $5 @ Danny's Warehouse
*The growing world of pole dancing
*Animals: submitted by Lois. Pit bulls are really very sweet dogs. They just get a lot of bad press. Check out this pit who lived in hell now he has it made
*Science Barge; through Oct 2008 at Riverside Park South at West 70th St. (212-757-7560). Tours, weather permitting: Tue.-Fri., 4 p.m.; Sat. 12 p.m., 1 p.m., 3 p.m., and 4 p.m.
*Checkout the bios of all the Ailey Company Dancers
*My friends Cinlou & Howie sent this to share: Christian the lion
*Alvin Ailey American Dance® Theater Barbie® Doll Toy Item # 26851...how cute is that?
*When there is an elephant in the room, introduce him: Professor Randy Pausch's inspiring lecture
*"Don't tense up. Just pretend you are the chicken."
THIS MONTH IN DANCE HISTORY
September 8, 1966 Captain Kirk and the intrepid crew of the USS Enterprise set out to "boldly go where no man has gone before" when "Star Trek" premières
September 11, 2001 Never Forget
Sept 14, 1927 In Nice, France, Modern dance pioneer Isadora Duncan was killed in a freak accident as the long scarf she was wearing became entangled in the moving wheel of her sports car and strangled her.
September 18, 1920 Birth of dance scholar Selma Jeanne Cohen
September 1990 At the Jackson International Ballet Competition, the Grand Prix went to Jose Manuel Carreno
Sept 28 1986: Sir Robbert Helpmann dies.
Read all about each month's ballet history here for all archives.
BALLET TERMS
POSE' (to set or put: a placed step) One of the basic elements of center practice. A movement involving a transfer of weight onto the whole foot, demi-pointe, or pointe. Can be prepared with a petit developpe (as in pas de chavel) or a battement degage action en fondu and performed en avant (forward), en arriere (backwards), and de cote' (side) into different positions, both a' terre (on the ground) and en 1'air (in the air). These excerpts are provided here for you from The Royal Academy of Dancing "Dictionary of Classical Ballet Terminology" by R. Rymanie. (Taylor does this step so lovely that Yasmine calls it "The Taylor".)
Weekly Tips: Stretching, Pointe, Health, & More
*Stretch-o-da-Month: September 2008: Simple Side Bending: Begin from Mountain pose, interlace the fingers, lifting the palms up over the head, press the feet into the floor and reach the fingers and crown up while relaxing the shoulders down and back. Exhale, arching over to the left side. Keep the feet grounded and the legs and buttocks engaged. Reach up and out through the fingers and crown.
*Pointe Shoe Tip 'o the Week: No Ribbons? Although this may be a lovely line for certain performances, in daily classes & rehearsals you should always wear ribbons on your pointe shoes to stablize, support and maintain ankle strength. The ankle joint is made up of three bones: the tibia, fibula and talus & are connected to each other by ligaments. Think of ligaments as thick rubber bands that hold bones together so that joints are stable and function properly.
The stability of your ankle joint is dependent upon the ability of these bones to keep the central bone in place while the ankle moves back and forth and ribbons help assist in that stability. Ankle sprains are common injuries that occur when ligaments are stretched or torn. Nearly 85% of ankle sprains occur laterally, or on the outside of ankle joints.
Be safe-Wear your ribbons! And if you feel you have a foot injury, go see Dr. Novella D.P.M., he has the scoop on dancers and their feet.. He'll check the angle of your bones, shapes of your bones, motion in your joints, length of your legs, status of other problems or tissues, whatever is necessary to complete the picture. Kat has been visiting Dr T. for 25 yrs now, First referred to him by none other then Prima ballerina Melissa Hayden (R.I.P.).
| | |
